1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to internal combustion engines, and more particularly to hydrogen fuel additives for improving engine performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since hydrogen has very fast combustion velocity, hydrogen may be beneficial as a secondary fuel added to a primary fuel, such as gasoline or diesel fuel, for use in internal combustion engines. For example, hydrogen, when mixed with an air-fuel mixture of a primary fuel of an engine in a vehicle, may elevate the performance of the internal combustion engine by increasing the mileage and enhancing the fuel economy of the vehicle with respect to the primary fuel. Additionally, hydrogen may also increase the horsepower output of the internal combustion engine. Further, since hydrogen flame has a very short quenching distance of about 0.64 mm, hydrogen may reduce the amount of undesirable emissions, such as hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon oxide (CO), from the engine.
Some electrolysis systems have been developed to produce hydrogen and oxygen specifically for use in internal combustion engines. Typically, these systems use electrolysis cells to decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen and then draw the hydrogen and oxygen for combination with the primary air-fuel mixture of the internal combustion engine. However, these systems may have inherent safety issues. For example, it is difficult to separate the hydrogen and oxygen produced by such electrolysis cells; consequently, the hydrogen and oxygen gases are directed from the cells to the internal combustion engine in a combined state, which may be relatively explosive.
Therefore, improvements may still be made to the above techniques.